Technology Roundup: Web Development Tools: A Full Palette in 2003
Flash MX
The dominant professional Web development tool, Flash is a full-featured product
with an omnipresent counterpart on the client side: the Flash player, which
is installed on millions of personal computers and used by over 400 million
Internet users. Flash files incorporate rich media in a small file size. Flash
MX features video, multimedia, and application development components for creating
rich Web experiences. Users can import any standard video file supported by
QuickTime or Windows Media Player, including MPEG, DV (Digital Video), MOV (QuickTime),
and AVI. Flash MX can manipulate, scale, rotate, skew, mask, and animate video
objects. It can also make objects interactive with the help of scripting. The
panel layout, accelerator keys, and publish settings are all customizable. A
new intuitive user interface is available in this version. Also included are
prepackaged templates and learning interactions that provide users with ready-to-go
shells for dynamic Flash presentations, slide shows, menus, and quizzes. Flash
MX files can be saved as Flash 5 files, so that groups of users who have the
two different versions can still work with the same document. Contact: Macromedia
Inc., San Francisco, Calif.; (415) 252-2000; www.macromedia.com.
Adobe GoLive 6.0
GoLive combines design, style, site management, and deployment features that
permit Web designers or less experienced users to build professional Web pages.
Users organize drag-and-drop text boxes, images, and other objects on a layout
grid. The layout grid, actually a table formatted by the software, facilitates
page formation. Design tools in GoLive make it possible to develop Web pages
without getting tangled up in code. However, for those who wish to work at that
level, code editing tools allow them to work visually in the page layout while
simultaneously viewing the source code. GoLive also features site management
and collaboration tools, a customizable user interface, and a dynamic site wizard.
GoLive even lets users design pages for wireless devices.
This visual authoring program integrates well with other Adobe products, such
as Acrobat and Photoshop. Users can publish work as PDF or SVG documents. Using
PDF, developers can send the work out to reviewers, who can comment on and mark
up the work directly in a file and return it to the user for changes. Users
can also take a Photoshop image and bring it directly into GoLive. SmartObjects
maintain the link between the image and Photoshop. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc.,
San Jose, Calif.; (800) 833-6687; www.adobe.com.
Adobe LiveMotion 2.0
LiveMotion takes the capabilities of GoLive and makes them dance. Tightly integrated
with other Adobe products, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, and AfterEffects,
LiveMotion allows users to build animated interactive Web pages in a variety
of formats, including Flash and QuickTime. LiveMotion is a compilation of pre-built
effects and tools for creativity. Users can draw from the library and style
palettes for ideas or build content from the ground up using the integrated
Photoshop text engine, content-creation tools, and ActionScript.
ActionScript,
a complete JavaScript language for creating interactivity, lets users create
interactive content (without having to learn new scripting languages) and export
it to the Flash player to create animated content, advanced eCommerce tools,
complete Web applications, and XML-based chat rooms. LiveMotion also includes
some features designed to automate tedious tasks: Developers can build automation
scripts, which control all objects and commands within the LiveMotion authoring
environment. Experienced developers can also create Live Tabs, user-friendly
front-ends that connect invisibly to the automation scripts, speeding up the
production process for the less experienced user. Contact: Adobe Systems Inc.,
San Jose, Calif.; (800) 833-6687; www.adobe.com.
XMetaL 3
XMetaL has won numerous awards for its accessible approach to XML content creation
and editing. XMetaL has an open and scriptable development environment that
allows developers to create custom tools with which any user, not just developers,
can build XML and SGML documents. The complexity of XML is hidden within a user-friendly
interface. XML documents can also be saved as SGML. Users of XMetaL can create
or repurpose content for publication on the Web without the need to convert
it from other formats. XMetaL’s authoring aids provide further support via three
editing view options. Context-sensitive Attribute Inspector and Element List
show valid markup options at the current point in the document. XMetaL also
features real-time rules checking, keyboard macros, a spell checker, and a thesaurus,
as well as an advanced search and replace engine. Recently acquired by Corel
Corp., XMetaL was formerly sold by SoftQuad. Contact: Corel Corp., Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada; (613) 728-8200; www.corel.com.
Freeway 3.5 for Mac OS X
Freeway 3.5 for Mac OS X and OS 9 is an HTML generator that helps users build
Web content with graphics and typography features—without coding. Extensive
drag-and-drop capability enables users to add content from just about any source
(Web pages in browsers, iPhoto, iTunes, MS Word or the desktop) straight into
the Freeway document. The latest version of Freeway includes support for native
Illustrator 10, Photoshop 7, TIFF, PICT, GIF, JPEG, Quicktime, MPEG, and SWF
file formats. Other improvements in version 3.5 include the ability to manipulate
compressed Flash files (change backgrounds and URLs), better handling of true-type
fonts, and smaller Freeway file sizes. Within Freeway, users have access to
all of Macintosh’s fonts with full typographic control for creating GIF text.
Freeway also scales image files and converts them to JPEGs, GIFs or PING files,
sparing the user the need for an external graphics editor. An upgrade to Freeway
3.5 is free to owners of Freeway 3x. Contact: Softpress Inc., Sausalito, Calif.;
(415) 331-4820.
NetObjects Fusion 7
Designed to accommodate the needs of the basic home Web page builder as well
as an experienced Web developer, NetObjects Fusion 7 is replete with features
that make it accessible. Beginning with its QuickStart building tips and tools,
NetObjects Fusion 7 provides support for all proficiency levels. Novice users
can build a Web site in three quick steps: choose a template, choose a style,
then add the content. They can connect pages through an easy-to-use drag-and-drop
layout manager that automatically adds navigation to link pages. Users can import
content from other HTML sources or from other Web sites; the product also gives
users the ability to import Word documents without loss of formatting. Other
time saving tools include global asset management, cascading style sheets, and
a library of styles from which to choose. Contact: Website Pros Inc., Jacksonville,
Fla.; (877) 650-8171; www.netobjects.
com.
